Dangerous Waters (Free!)
by zurpocalypse
Summary: An AU where the Free! guys are trying to survive an apocalypse. Follow the guys as the deal with rocky friendships, teenage hormones, multiple loses, developing mental issues, and other traumatic events that could lead someone into insanity.
1. A Typical Raid

The sky was blanketed with grey, thick clouds, with some exception of sunlight peeking through. The weather was chilly and the atmosphere was heavy in the small, wooded area. Rubble, ashes and planks of wood scattered everywhere among the lifeless lawns and porches. Windows were broken and a majority of the houses were burned to a crisp, except for a few.

"Fluffy Penguin here with Monarch Butterfly. How are things looking? Over." Nagisa said into the walkie talkie. He and Rei were inside a dirty, dark purple van parked outside infront of a 2 story house in a deathly quiet neighborhood. It was one of the few houses that could give them shelter for the night. The roof wasn't caved in like the other houses and the windows were intact.

"Gentle Giant reporting." Makoto's static voice said from the walkie. "1st floor is clear. Over."

"Backyard is good. Just a few dead ones, but they got taken down. Over."

"Rin~! You have to say your code name!" The blond teenager stated.

Rin shouted at the walkie, "Like hell I would! That nickname is too childish for a guy like me!"

"Please?"

"I said no!"

Rei, who sat on the drivers seat, added, "Actually Rin, Nagisa is right. Code names are essential to operations that date all the way back to hundreds of years ago. And this one is no different."

"Listen to Rei, Rin. He's the brains of the operation."

Rin had enough of the arguing and caved in. "UGH! Fine! Shark Boy says backyard is clear! Over!" He said, annoyed. Earlier, he wanted to be nicknamed Sharp Tooth, but Nagisa insisted Shark Boy would suit him more, with his pink puppy dog eyes and pout to convince him.

"Thanks Rin! How about you Haru?"

"Holy Mackeral says 2nd floor is clear. Over."

"O.K guys. You know what to do. I'll check back in 30 minutes. And remember, be careful."

They disconnected their walkie-talkies.

Inside the house, Makoto rummaged through the fridge and cabinets in the kitchen while looking for any edible food and canned goods. With no luck, he called for Haru to assist him. "Haru! Can you come down please?" As soon as he asked, Haru came down into the kitchen. "Can you look in the pantries and cabinets for food?"

"Sure." He squatted down and searched the compartment under the marble countertop.

They were able to find 4 cans of peaches, 2 tomato soup cans, 7 pudding cups, a few bottles of water and a box of cereal that expired the month before. The rest of the food rotted beyond recognition or were being devoured by roaches.

Meanwhile, Rin moved from the backyard and guarded the front with his 12 gauge shotgun ready and loaded by his side. The putrid smell of decay filled his nose and stung his eyes. He tried hard, but found it extremely difficult to pull himself together. He tried slapping his cheeks, closing his eyes and counting to ten, and even holding his breath so he wouldn't need to breath in the stench, but he felt ill anyway. Knowing the huge risk of leaving his position, he hurried inside the house and slammed the door behind him.

Both Makoto and Haru were surprised when they saw Rin come inside in a hasty manor. He laid his gun and hands on the counter and took in a few deep breaths.

"Rin! What are you doing in here?!" Makoto asked. He was able to reply in-between his breaths.

"I cant take it... It smells disgusting outside... and my head feels like it's... spinning." Sweat formed on his forehead and his stomach felt uneasy.

"It doesn't smell that bad outside. I think your just exaggerating it a bi-."

"I'm not over-exaggerating! I feel like I'm gonna throw u-!" He felt the queasiness consume his body. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and groaned a bit. He hurried toward the sink and vomited.

Haru walked to his side and rubbed his back for comfort. He grabbed a blue bandanna from his back pocket that he found in one of the rooms upstairs and handed it to him. "Here. Tie it so that it covers your nose and mouth."

Rin starred at the dark blue bandanna with doubt. The redhead didn't think that the thin fabric would keep out much of the stench. But keeping out some is better than taking in all. He grabbed the blue bandanna and wrapped it around his mouth. He also tied his hair back in a ponytail.

"Where did you find that?" The curious Makoto asked.

"Upstairs."

"Neat. Did you find anything else?" Haru fell silent for a few seconds. He didn't want to tell the guys, especially Makoto, what he stumbled into in the main bedroom. He simply replied, "No... Nothing."

"Are you sure? I wanna check it out to make sure nothing got overlooked," he said. The tall man turned his body to the opposite direction, and headed toward the wooden staircase that led upstairs.

"Don't!" Haru exclaimed as he lunged forward and grabbed Makoto's forearm. He squeezed his forearm tightly.

"Haru?" Makoto called out. He was baffled by his friend's sudden outburst and extreme disapproval with him leaving. He turned his head over his shoulder and starred down at Haru's deep blue, pleading eyes.

"I said there's nothing upstairs. Leave it alone."

Makoto gulped. He replied, "O-O.K. "

**Earlier...**

While Makoto was finding food downstairs, Haru surveyed the upstairs area for any danger. The bedrooms he inspected were in shambles and bedraggled. The toys and Dragon Ball Z posters made him suspect that both rooms belong to young boys. The clothes were scattered all over the floors, the dark blue wallpaper peeled off the walls and the beds were flipped over. It seemed that more than a few people ransacked the place. The only trinkets he could find was a small hammer and the blue bandanna. When he entered the room down the hall, it was different from the other rooms. He turned the silver knob, but it was locked. So he knocked on the door and expected some sort of voice or hungry snarl. He used the hammer to break the knob and opened the door. The wooden floor was deprived of a single speck of dust and the atmosphere was less dense. But a foul stench filled up his nose, making him cringe. Lying on the bed, he saw 3 decaying bodies. At first he wanted to get the hell out of there, but some force kept him from leaving. It seemed that the mother laid with her two very young children, both sons, by her side, holding hands. Beside them were a couple bottles of empty sleeping pills that rested on a wooden desk. He looked back and saw another decaying body, a man, sitting in a rocking chair. His head slumped to his left shoulder and dried blood splatter covered a section of the white wall behind his head. A gruesome sight that would make some, specifically his friend raiding the cabinets, roll their eyes to the back of their head and faint. Haru's attention was caught by a silver revolver in the man's right hand. He came to the conclusion that all had sustained bullet wounds to the head and the apparent shooter was the father. Even so, he walked up to the male corpse, removed his boney fingers from the revolver, and put it in his pocket.

_Are they cowards for leaving the world, or brave? Did horror consume their minds to the point where suicide was the way to go?_ He thought along with other pondering questions. He was able to do a small prayer before closing the door behind him and going downstairs to his friend.

**...**

Haru and Makoto stuffed their backpacks with while Rin starred at himself in the mirror near the kitchen entryway, trying to get used to his new look. They raised their alarm when they a heard a loud thud come from the basement. Rin grabbed his shotgun, Makoto grabbed his baseball bat, with nails hammered at the tip, and Haru grabbed 2 serrated knife from the wooden knife block near the sink. They slowly crept behind the staircase where a door would lead them to the basement. Rin cautiously turned the door knob and opened the door. It was pitch black down past the 4th step. Out from the darkness, two grey-ish green, lacerated arms lunged at them. Rin shot the creature. It let out a ravenous, desperate wail as it fell back onto the floor. They waited a few seconds before agreeing to check the rest of the basement. Makoto pulled out a flashlight from his backpack pocket and used the light to guide them down the stairs. Rin crept down first, followed by Makoto, then Haru. Once they reached the bottom of the steps, Makoto was hit in the head by a light bulb that hung on a few strips of wire. He pulled on the string. The light flickered a bit and lit the room.

Rin and Makoto felt that they were going to vomit not at the smell, but the sight of the creature. Its clothes were still intact, but were shredded and covered in dirt and dried blood. It's face was necrotic and torn, its cheekbones were defined and teeth resembled the color of deep amber. It's short black hair was mangled and messy. Its eyes were bloodshot and a swampy, foggy green color. The creature jerked and twitched violently. Blood squirted out of its stomach, where Rin had shot it. He raised his shotgun and aimed for its head, but Haru intervened.

"I got it," Haru said. He squatted near the creature, pulled back both his arms with both knives in his hands and stabbed deeply into its sickly chartreuse eyes simultaneously. He dug the knives deeper until the creature stopped squirming. Some of its blood splattered onto his pale hands and blue jeans as he removed the knives and threw them aside. "Its dead," he stated.

"What are you talking about? It was already dead," Rin said as he lightly kicked the corpse's arm.

Haru sighed. "Like I keep saying, it died and reanimated. It's only dead if we puncture, crush or do anything else that harms the brain."

"Tsk. Whatever man." Haru turned his head to look back at his friend, who covered his eyes and trembled vigorously. "You O.K Makoto?"

He slowly lowered his hands and observed the body with anxiety. He gulped, "Y-Yeah, don't worry about me... I'm fine." Rin's walkie talkie started to static.

"What happened?! Are you guys O.K?! We heard a gunshot!" Rei asked frantically.

Rin clicked the button and responded, "We're all fine. There was only one, but me and Haru took care of it. Over."

Rei let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Did you manage to check out the entire perimeter? Over."

"Not yet. We'll let you know when we finish. Over." He disconnected his walkie. As Haru tried to comfort Makoto, Rin surveyed the basement for any useful tools or food. "Damn it! There's nothing here!" He shouted as he starred at the empty shelves.

"But at least we got a roof over out heads tonight," Makoto added in hopes it would calm the redhead. "Maybe there's more stuff if we check the rest of the house." Once Makoto calmed down, they left the basement and checked the remainder of the house. While Rin and Makoto checked the garage, Haru pulled the drawer from a small, white desk in the living room and found a red sharpie. He grabbed the desk and hauled it all the way up to the door at the end of the hall, where he found the corpses. He placed the drawer in the front of the door and wrote "**Do Not Enter. Resting In Peace**" on the flat surface on the back with the sharpie.

They met up in the living room and walked out of the house to the front where Nagisa and Rei waited for them. Makoto grabbed the walkie-talkie from his pocket and reported back to Nagisa. "Gentle Giant to Fluffy Penguin. Perimeter is secure and ours for the time being. The zombies have been eliminated. Over."


	2. Too Hard

Night fell on the region. It seemed that this town was a perfect spot to rest, since there were very few zombies that prowled the area. In the house, the guys sat in a circle in the middle of the living room behind the large sofa. Their only light source was a lantern that illuminated a dim golden yellow color. Nagisa began to open the canned food with the can opener while Rin and Rei looked at the map of the region to mark the places they've been to. Haru and Makoto counted their supplies.

"This is bad guys," Makoto said apprehensively. "We didn't manage to haul in enough supplies. We better hope that the store we saw earlier has what we need."

"Don't worry so much Mako. We always pull through in the end," Nagisa cheerfully said. He removed the top from the last cap and announced that the food was ready for consumption. He then divided the food based on who has the highest metabolism, a system to which everyone agreed on. Makoto gets the most while Haru got the least amount.

While they dined on their food, Rei remarked, "Haru, I feel sorry that you have the least amount of food. You can have some of my peaches if you want."

"It's fine Rei. I only get hungry when I think of mackerel," he stated. Then, his stomach grumbled loud enough for all of them to hear. Haru blushed a bit from embarrassment.

Nagisa chuckled, "If you weren't hungry, then why did your stomach grumble?"

"That's because I was thinking of mackerel!"

The guys laughed at Haru's little outburst.

"Here Haru," Makoto said as he scooped a spoonful of peaches from his can, intending to give it to Haru. But Haru shook his head side to side and covered the top of his can with hand.

Haru also handed his share of the pudding cup to Makoto. "Eat this too," he insisted.

"But your hung-."

"Makoto! You cant forget what happened last time when you were hungry!"

The room fell silent for a moment as they recalled the dreadful event.

The five of them, including some of the Samezuka guys and Goro, their blond, star shaved swimming instructor, were on their food run in a grocery store a couple weeks ago. It had been a couple days since the guys had eaten anything. They were cleaning the shelves of canned goods and supplies when a sudden horde of zombies came into the store from the entrance. The other guys made it our from the side door, but Haru, Makoto and Goro were cut off. They were able to go into the storage room after shooting some of the grotesque creatures heads. They hid behind a rack of candy as the zombies tried to break down the door. Even though the door was metal, they somehow broke through the door. The guys tried desperately to not make a sound as the zombies sniffed the air and tried to find any sign of life to devour. However, Makoto's stomach couldn't keep quiet and grumbled loudly, sending the zombies in a frenzy. Haru was able to find the exit, but couldn't go on when he saw Makoto being grabbed by undead hands. He raised his firearm at the zombies head, but Goro came up from behind and smashed its skull with a hammer. He told the boys to hurry out the door and was ravenously bit in the shoulder. Haru and Makoto didn't want to abandon him, but they knew that if someone were bit, it was too late. Goro managed to give both of them enough time to make their way out from the back exit, but sacrificed himself in the process. The group was in a long grieving state when they heard of Goro's passing. But none was as mournful as Makoto. He believed that he was the cause of his teachers death. It took a vast amount of pep talk and strolling in the to lightly life Makoto's spirits. And even longer to get their friend back to his old, smiling self.

"I'm fine with what I have. You have a higher metabolism so you need to eat more," Haru explained as he slid his pudding cup toward Makoto's leg.

Makoto stopped squabbling with Haru and continued to eat his peaches. After swallowing his food, Makoto asked, "Hey Rin. How come you don't let your sister come along? She seemed so eager to join us this time."

He responded, "There's no way in hell I would let her come with us! It's to dangerous for her." He scooped some peaches with his spoon and scarfed it down. Rin added, with his mouth full, "As much as I hate it, I'd rather have her stay at the camp with Seijuurou and Nitori than stick around with us." He swallowed his food and groaned, "Man, I really wish I has some meat right now. I cant stand how sweet these peaches are."

After swallowing a spoonful of his pudding, Nagisa joined in and said, "I wish I had some cheesecake. I miss the fluffy icing and red strawberry at the top."

"I miss my beautiful pole vault and melon bread with barley tea," Rei added as he looked down at his pudding with gloomy eyes.

Nagisa asked, "Haru, what do you miss?" He sighed when Haru ignored his question. "Makoto. Can you read his mind?" He asked.

"Hmmm. Sure," he replied. Makoto cupped his own pointed chin and stared intensely as Haru ate his peaches. He knew Haru for 14 years, so he was able to tell how his friend felt just by analyzing the way he blinks or how he breathes. As Haru chewed his last bite, Makoto concluded, "Haru misses... He misses mackerel and... the pool? Am I right Haru?"

The blue eyed man swallowed his food and replied, "Pretty much."

"Wow! That's so awesome!" The short blonde stated in awe with big, glimmering fuchsia eyes. "It's like you guys are connected mentally or something."

"That is very impressive Makoto," Rei commented as he straightened his thumb and index finger in the shape of a sideways "L". "How do you guys do it? Communicate mentally and all?"

Haru added, "We've known each other for over 10 years. Its normal for us to communicate even without talking. Makoto thinks its because we came from the same soul, but manifested into different bodies."

"That's amazing! You guys really are best friends," Nagisa commented. "And by the way, what about you Mako? What do you miss?"

Makoto's eyes were drooped more than normal. His elbow was on his knee and his hand was on his cheek. "Huh?" He said. He moved his hand near his mouth and yawned. "Sorry guys. I'm just really sleepy."

"I think that's a sign for all of us to go to sleep," Nagisa stated, before he got the contagious yawn.

"I second that," Rei added. "We haven't had a full nights rest in a very long time. Inadequate sleep patterns can cause the brain to not function properly, which can make us easer prey for those mongrels."

After they finished devouring their food, Haru and Rei managed to find some pillows and blankets in the chaotic rooms upstairs. They agreed to use the bulkier blankets as a mattress and the thinner ones to cover them because they believed their body warmth can sustain them. Makoto punctured some holes on the sides of the leftover cans, used a string from a shoelace he found earlier and hammered them to the entryway that connects the living room to the kitchen, so that if danger were coming, the rattling of the cans would wake them. Rin volunteered to be on night duty. He grabbed his gun, sat down in the middle of the sofa and laid his shotgun on the coffee table. He pulled out Men's Fashion magazine and took a gander at the bracelets and sweaters. The others made themselves comfortable for their slumber.

...

Haru dreamt of that he swam in the crisp, blue waters of the school pool, until he was suddenly awoken when the curtains were drawn, letting in the bright moon light that illuminated the room. He then saw Rin walk from the window and sit down on the sofa. He thought about going back to sleep, but to no avail. He looked to his side and saw Makoto sleeping, who's peachy breath filled his nose pleasantly. He got up carefully, so he wouldn't wake his companions, and walked toward the sofa.

"Couldn't sleep?" Rin inquired as Haru sat down adjoined the redhead.

Haru scooted closer to him, leg to leg, and answered, "I dreamt about the pool, but the light woke me up. I tried to go back to sleep, but I'm not tired anymore."

Rin scratched the back of his own head and giggled. "Sorry. It's just that I heard the moon is at its brightest during the winter. I just wanted to see the sky that's all," he explained. He turned his attention away from the teenager and to the sky. The illuminated sky made him forget for a moment that the world was in complete chaos. He peered his eyes to his right and saw Haru starring at the moon too, with the same look as if he were seeing a pool. For some reason, Rin felt that the glowing reflection of the moon was much more fascinating to watch in Haru's eyes than gazing at the sky itself. It seemed like the moon and stars were floating in the pools of Haru's vivid blue irises. Rin grinned and said as he grasped Haru's left shoulder, "Isn't this romantic Haru?"

Haru was a bit irritated that the redhead disrupted his view. He looked at Rin with annoyance and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You know. Just the two of us watching the moon. Together."

He turned his head back toward the window, from feeling slightly embarrassed, and commented sarcastically, "I guess. If your definition of romance is hiding in a strangers home, eating canned food while ravenous zombies prowl the night and hunt for human flesh, then yeah, this is romantic."

Rin sighed, "Don't be like that. You know I-." He was interrupted by his own yawn. He stretched his arms up and rubbed his eyes with his balled up hands.

"Rin, you seem tired. You can go to sleep if you want."

"Really?"

"Like I said, I'm not tired anymore. I can take your shift."

"Alrighty then. I guess I'll hit the ha-." As run turned his head back, he saw that the spot that Haru slept on was taken by Nagisa's upper body. He turned to his sides and studied the room for a comfortable place to sleep. When he couldn't find an area that met his standards, his eyes and he thought of an idea. He scooted a bit farther from Haru and fell to his left side, but was his head and shoulder was caught by Haru.

"What are you doing?"

"Nagisa took my spot, so I'm gonna use your thighs as a pillow to sleep on."

"No."

"C'mon Haru. You know I can't sleep without a pillow. Please?"

"No."

Everyone of his verbal plea's were coldly turned down by Haru. He then came up with another idea. "Haru, you brought this upon yourself," he stated. Since they were children, he knew that Haru hated eye-to-eye contact, especially with him, and used that to his advantage. He sat back up, clasped Haru's pale cheeks with his hands and locked eyes with the confused man.

The beautiful gleam in Rin's narrow, crimson eyes made it difficult for Haru to withstand the redheads gaze. He darted his eyes in other directions, but his eyes would always end up staring into his irises. He caved in quickly, not being able to withstand his anxiety with eye contact. "F-Fine. Do what you want."

Rin grinned victoriously and released his friend from his grasp. Just as he was about to rest his head, he clasped his hand onto Haru's thigh and squeezed it repeatedly. He stated, "Hard. But it'll do for the time being." He removed his hand from Haru's thigh and rested the side of his head on his lap. His eyelids grew heavy and his breathing slowed down. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until he laid his head down. Within a few moments, he was at ease and asleep.

...

While the others slept soundly, Haru continued to gaze at the night sky. He felt that if he were to drown his mind with the midnight blue sky, it would remind him of the feeling of swimming. Though, it wasn't the same. He was just suffocating at the thought that he might never be able to swim again. It took Rin's sleep talk to bring him back from Cloud 9.

Rin's eyebrows pulled down together and his shoulders tensed up. He muttered, "Don't.. Get away.. Away from Gou...Don't.. Touch her..."

Haru ran his fingers through Rin's straight, silky burgundy hair, which seemed to calm his nerves as his expression and shoulders relaxed. He removed the black hair tie from his previous ponytail and used it to make funnier hairstyles on his friend, who is slept calmly. A pastime that could hopefully kill some time while he served the graveyard shift.


	3. Supplies and Magazines

p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family:  
Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;  
text-align: justify;"After the guys got their full nights rest, except for the blue eyed man, they packed up their gear and drove off. They ate the expired cereal as they traveled to the supermarket across town. Car rides to their destinations often start with a game of emwould you rather, I spy, /emor evenem 20 questions. /emAs the boys were close to guessing if Makoto was some type of candy or dessert, they arrived to their destination./p 


	4. Disaster

As the morning sun rose on the horizon and filled through the cracks on the ceilings that shone down on their closed eyelids, the guys arched their backs back and stretched their arms forward, much like how a cat would stretch. Rejuvenated and eager to go back to their camp, they quickly packed their gear, ate some canned pear halves with strawberry jam and left the house.

Rei drove the van as the other guys slept through most of the car ride. Nagisa chose to sleep on Rei's toned lap. Being the cautious driver that he is, he advised Nagisa previously to not to for safety reasons. Nonetheless, Nagisa ignored his warnings. None of the drivers-ed books he read covered anything that involved how to deal with a sleeping blonde on your lap, but Rei didn't mind much. He enjoyed the soft breathing that emitted from his pale lips and little murmurs of broken sentences. As Rei adjusted the rear-view mirror, he saw a sight that made him cover his mouth and squeal. Rin's head rested on Haru's broad right shoulder, Haru's head rested on Makoto's much broader right shoulder and Makoto rested his head on the side of Haru's head. The three of them rested peacefully with the sides of their mouths slightly curled up. As adorable as the sight may have been for him, Rei had to plaster his eyes on the road.

Rin was the first to wake. Followed immediately by Makoto, then Nagisa. Haru continued to sleep. Tears pricked his the edges of his eyes as Rin yawned loudly, "How long have we been out?"

Rei briefly checked his red wrist watch for the time. "It's 9:27. If my mental math is correct, your guys fell asleep around the same time, which was at 6:48. Therefore, you guys have been "out" for 3 hours and 19 minutes."

Rin grabbed his backpack from the floor and dug though it as he tried to find a box of Pockey® for him to snack on. Instead, he found the magazines that he planned to give to his friends. "Oh shit! I almost forgot!" His loud outburst caught everyone's attention. "I got you guys some magazines. You know, incase you get tired of taking zombies." He handed Nagisa and Rei's magazines first, with the astrology one on the top.

"Lookie Rei! Rin got you a space magazine," he stated as he pointed the Milky Way Galaxy on the cover of it.

Rei shifted his pearly purple eyes toward the magazine and glanced back at the window. "Thank you Rin. I really appreciate you going through the trouble of givin-." He was interrupted by the eccentric blond next to him.

Nagisa's eyes sparkled and his jaw dropped as he starred at the dessert covered, bubbly font cover. Warm drool rolled down the side of his mouth as he exclaimed, "Wow! Look at all these cakes! They look so delicious~!"

"Nagisa! You rudely interrupted me! Again!" Rei took a deep breath, sighed and continued on. As the driver, he was doing exceptionally well at conversing and maneuvering the van.

As the duo up front bickered, Rin handed Makoto his magazine. "I picked this for you because you look like they type to be into this," he whispered over the sleeping Haru.

Makoto said as he grabbed the magazine, "Really? That's so nice of you to-." He gasped. His face flushed red and his lips quivered. He stuttered, "R-Rin! D-Do you really think of me that way?!"

"Well, yeah." He cheeks showed some slight hues of blush. He added, "We've been friends for a long time and I feel that that book can help you out in these troubled times."

Makoto's jaw dropped. "What?! Seriously?!"

Rin pushed his bottom lip up. He reached into his backpack, grabbed another magazine and said, "Well if you don't like it, I have other-!" Rin gasped and his eyes widened. In his right hand was the cute magazine that he thought he had given to his friend. He gulped, "Wait... If I have your book... Then what book do you have?"

Makoto flipped the magazine and showed the cover to him. On it was a large picture of two guys smiling and holding hands as they sat on the edge of a bed, but their faces above the nose were cut off. It was a magazine specified for teenage guys that covered topics like how to maintain healthy body and maintaining relationship with partners. The article also included information about oral hygiene and teenage sexual urges. Rin quickly snatched the book and shoved it back into his backpack.

Makoto gave the flustered man a reassuring smile. He said, "Don't worry Rin. There's nothing to be ashamed of. If you need to talk to someone, know that I'm here for you."

"I'm not ashamed of anything! And I don't need anyone to council me!"

"But Rin, its not healthy to bottle up emotions-."

"No shit! That's what I have my diary for!" He exclaimed, after the car fell silent. Rin's face turned bright red when he realized that he might have said what he said earlier a bit too loud.

The two men in the front heard his outburst. Nagisa let out a small burst of laughter, but caught himself. "Your what?" He giggled.

Unbeknownst to the group, Haru was fully aware of the raucous they created, even though the others believed he was sleeping because his eyelids were closed. His eyebrows twitched as he tried to concentrate on going back to sleep, but all he could think about was how his friends were idiots.

...

They arrived to their camp that was located in Rin's school. Samezuka Academy.

The winter season killed off all of their edible crops that were in wooden crates. The building seemed very moderate. A bit too moderate since most of the school was mainly inhabited by teenage boys. Not a single person patrolled the outside or rooftop. The guys suspicions weren't raised when they noticed the eerily quiet area. They assumed that another group might have gone to collect supplies since they took longer that their expected time. Rei parked the van in the parking lot in front of the swimming pool area. Once they guys exited the van, Nagisa opened the trunk and grabbed a box of canned fruit. Everyone else grabbed a box whereas Rin grabbed the tote bag of guns and other weapon. They then walked toward the metal door that lead to the pool building.

Haru was about ready to barge through the door and drive into the crisp, chlorine filled water of the pool. He even had his hand on his belt buckle. But when he opened the door, he stopped in his tracks. The guys thought this was unusual given that Haru would have already been in the pool by now.

Makoto asked him what the problem was, but Haru just stood there, wide eyed and mouth open. He looked over Haru's shoulder and saw the catastrophe.

The pool was no longer it's translucent blue color, but deep red. Corpses and different appendages buoyed across the calm pool water. Dead bodies laid on the once pearl white tile floor. A few zombie's gnawed on the dead corpse's of some of their fellow survivors.

"W... What happened here?" Makoto stuttered as he was engulfed by terror. Soon everyon peeked their head through the entryway.

They were all frozen with fear, but Rin was more concerned that afraid. "Oh no," he muttered. All he could think about was his sister. He shoved past the guys and shouted, "Gou! Where are you?! Gou!"

"Rin!" Makoto called out. "Come back!"

Driven by apprehension and adrenaline, the man ignored his calls. He dashed all the way to the other side of the pool, ran up the concrete steps and continued to call out for his sister.

"You guys go back to the van and meet us in the front. I'll go with Rin and help him find Gou," Haru insisted.

As Haru sped to his emotional friend, Makoro lunged forward and grabbed his wrist tightly, "But Haru, I want to help too!"

"No. I'd rather you stay with Nagisa and Rei than with me." He yanked his arm away from Makoto's grasp.

"But I can hel-."

"I said no!"

"H-Haru," Makoto muttered with quaked lips. Rei rested his hand on his broad shoulder and nudged his body out the door. Makoto gave in and hurried to the van with Nagisa and Rei.

Haru followed the trail of battered corpse on the wooden ground, followed by bloody footprints. The two zombies that feasted on one of the refugee's turned their attention to Haru. They lunged for him, but Haru managed to shoot them both in their eyes. He hustled up the steps and opened the door. He was greeted by the pungent, metallic smell of blood and rotting flesh. Every time he turned the corner down the halls, more and more corpses appeared, to a point where he would have to hop over them. Bullet holes covered the white walls and golden and silver gun shells blanked the floors. It seemed like everyone put up a good fight, but lost greatly.

_The Iwatobi Swim Club members needed sanctuary during the time the "rabies disease" was at it's peak. Staying in the confines of Haru's home almost drove them to insanity as they heard the desperate cries for help and bone crushing gnaws of zombies eating humans. They were elated when they finally made contact with Rin and Gou after a couple weeks passed. Rin drove them from Haru's home, along with the protection of some of his Samezuka team members, including Nitori who was of great help when it came to taking down zombies, to his school. Samezuka Academy became the team's sanctuary. The malnourished boys were greeted with open arms, warm food and refreshing showers. Seijuuro was even kind enough to give them reign of the pool, to Haru's delight. The safe atmosphere and strong community among the Samezuka group helped the boys create a camaraderie with one another after making a few runs in town to gather supplies. They eventually became the suppliers after showing their effective teamwork. Overtime, the Samezuka Academy became a safe haven for other survivors across the island as well._

Rin's desperate cries could be heard up ahead, but they suddenly stopped. Haru hastily followed the trail to a room, Gou's room. As he was about to enter, he heard loud thumping and deep, almost animalistic, grunting. Inside, he found Rin pummeling the hell out of a zombie with the butt of his shotgun and the body of a young woman sprawled on the floor, who's legs have been completely devoured. Her identity remained a mystery for a while as her entire upper body was underneath the bed. Her petite body resembled his friends missing sisters, which deeply worried the men.

"Rin! Stop!" He shouted as he lunged toward him. As Rin brought his arms up to bludgeon the zombie again, Haru wrapped his arms around his chest. He felt the splattered blood on the front of his hoodie.

Once Rin felt Haru around him, he stopped pummeling the zombie. He lowered his gun and looked down at what he caused.

The zombies head was completely unrecognizable. Its entire face was caved in and cracked, which closely resembled a cracked egg that had fallen from the counter. It's eyes ejected from its eye sockets and its tongue hung from the side of it's mouth. Fragments of its white skull and grey brain were scattered near its head.

Rin looked at his hands and body. He was disgusted at the huge bloody mess he brought on himself. His shoes all the way up to his face, splattered with dark red blood. His fury filled body couldn't stop when he saw the zombie eating what he thought might be his sister. His face felt cold as he looked over at the leg-less corpse. He lowered Haru's arms away from his chest and walked toward the body. He knelt down beside the body and grabbed onto the bottom part of her pink, blood stained shirt. He hands were shaken and his eyes glimmered like crystals as tears formed on the sides. He overcame his hesitation and pulled down the body.

Rin and Haru both felt alleviated and slightly dejected when it was revealed that the woman was Yuuki. She was one of the few girls around the camp and one of Gou's friends. The brown eyed, dirty blonde was one of the cooks at the camp and would often council the newcomers and help rehabilitate them. However, she wouldn't go out to out much due to her paralyzed legs. She was also Gou's roommate, which explained why she was in her room. It seemed that she had died from blood loss as the zombies ate her legs. She also looked like she had suffered greatley as her eyes were wide open and her finger nails were chipped and bloody, which meant she must have tried to fight off the zombies before she died.

"Let's go, Haru," Rin said as he exited the room. He re-loaded his gun and continued down the hall.

Haru walked beside her and aimed the pistol downward. He shot the girl in the head before she was able to manifest as a flesh hungry creature.

They checked every room they could on the second floor. Each room they checked either had a partially eaten dead person or a zombie devouring a person. Not a single trace of the girl had yet been found. Once they cleared the top floor, they decided to check the lower level.

At this point Rin had mixed emotions on wether his sister was still breathing and well or joined the undead. He desperatley wanted to believe that his precious sister was alive, but the masses of dead bodies and zombies dimmed his hopes. All Haru could do at this point was to protect his friend from danger as he blindly hurried to find his kin.

As they sped down the steps, dozens of lacerated arms of the dead reached out towards them. They hustled back up the steps and ran down the hall, only to be cut off by more of the undead. They were cornered. Back to back, they shot at the horde. Bullets flew from their firearms and punctured the craniums of the undead creatures. Just as soon as they started shooting, they ran out of bullets. Their firepower didn't make much of a difference as zombies limped and shuffled towards them.

Rin reached into the weapons bag, pulled out a pistol, and aimed for the zombies. However, no bullets came out as he pulled the trigger. "Goddamn it!" He growled as he dug into the bag for a new gun. Sweat formed on his forehead and his shaken heart raced as his hands searched desperatley for a loaded weapon.

As the swarm grew closer and closer, Haru tried to find another way to escape. Then, he thought of a risky idea as he glanced at the window. He thought that in order to evade the zombies, the only other way was to jump down two stories and run toward the front where they would meet up with Makoto and the others. With no time to spare, he pulled the window open and grabbed Rin from his hood, which nearly choked him. He carried the man off his feet and sat him up on the window frame. Rin demanded an explination, but Haru just gave him the weapons bag and pushed him out the window. The zombies came a few inches behind him as he hopped up on the window frame and jumped out.

The blue eyed man dropped feet first on the sharp branches of a dead. Haru collapsed under the pressure and received a large cut across his pale cheek from a sharp branch.

As for Rin, the surprise jump gave him no time to land properly and he fell back first, followed by the heavy bag of guns that landed on his stomach. A sudden sharp, stinging pain on his calf made it almost impossible for him to walk properly. He lifted up his pant leg and saw the wound he got previously had re-opened. "What the fuck Haru?!" He growled as he clentched his bloody calf.

"You can thank me later! Just get up-! Ngh!" Haru groaned in pain as he tried to stand up. He felt a severe pain in his ankle. He thought that the jump might have caused him to twist his ankle. He used the window frame above him to help him get back up on his feet. He grabbed the bag and helped his friend up on his feet. They wrapped an arm across eachothers shoulders and limped away from the bush and toward the walkway.

A few zombies caught a wiff of their blood and persued them. There were a few close calle of a deadly interation, but Haru managed to take them down before they caused any harm

"There they are!" Haru pointed out. They spotted the dirty purple van around the corner on the street with their friends inside. As the eager man limped toward it, he was pulled back toward the door. Rin went the other way. "Rin! What are you doing?! The van is over there!"

"We're not done yet! I have to find Gou! She might still be in there!" He as removed his arm from Haru's shoulder and limped toward the door. He reached his arm toward the door handle and began shimmy to the locked entryway. The zombies attention inside the lobby were caught by the shaken door. They quickly slammed their bodies into the glass door and tried to claw their way out.

"Rin stop! We have to go! It's too dangerous!" Haru shouted.

Rin turned his head and shouted back, "Fine! If you won"t come with me then I'll go in by myself!"

"Rin!" He called out as he reached for his forearm.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted as he recoiled his arm away from Haru's grasp. Rin was detemined to open the door and scoure the entire premisis, even if he was barely able to walk.

Haru had no other option. He hurled his body onto his and wrapped his arms around his chest tightly. "We have to go! I won't leave without you!"

"Let me go!" He belted as he tried to wiggle his way out of Haru's embrace. Haru tried to pick up the heavy man, but his frail ankles begged to differ. Their pathetic struggle and weak legs led them both to drop to the pavement. They scuffled on the floor and exchanged shouts at eachother. Their movenemts only drove the zombies more in a frenzy. The glass door began to crack.

Haru caught the door cracking from his perefial vision. With all his might, he rolled Rin onto his back and managed to pin down the driven redhead on the pavement by his wrists. "Stop trying to fight me! We have to hurry and leave or else-!"

"I dont give a fuck! My sister could still be in there! She needs me!" He thought of his sister defending herself from those horrid creatures and desperatly trying to stay alive as more and more zombies come and surround her. Rin felt heat from his red face, his eyebrows point downward, and his teeth clenched. He was filled with fury. He rolled Haru onto his back and dug his nails into Haru's wrists, hoping that he would let go from the pain, but it only made him hold on even tighter. "Let me go Nanase! I have to save my sis-!"

Haru saw a large figure pull back it's arm and strike the redhead in the back of the neck with a small, blunt object. Rin's eyes drooped and his body went limp. He fell onto Haru. As the assailant got closer, Haru recognized him to be none other than Makoto. The stunned man pushed the unconscious body away from him. Makoto quickly helped him up and carried Rin over his broad shoulder. Haru grabbed the weapons bag from the ground and placed his hand on Makoto's broad shoulder.

As they fled from the scene, Makoto looked back as the school as zombies squabbled to get up as they broke through the shattered door and fell ontop of one another. They sniffed the blood created by the men on the concrete floor.

Haru insisted to him, "Don't look back! Just keep walking!"

What waited for them at the corner was the dirty purple van. Nagisa pulled open the door and shouted at them to hurry. Makoto carefully placed Rin across the seat and helped Haru in. Once they were all settled, Rei stepped on the pedal and sped the car away from the building. They looked back from the window as the horde grew farther and farther.

...

"Haru! Wake up!" Nagisa cried out as he shook the sleeping man from his shoulder. Instead of looking for a house to sleep like they normally did, they spent the night in the wan.

He rubbed his eyes. "W-What's the matter Nagisa?"

"I-I-It's R-Rin! H-H-H-He's..."

"Rin's what?! Whats wrong with R-!"

"Rin's gone!"

* * *

What happened to Rin?! Where he go?!

Find out in the next chapter...


	5. News

Instead of looking for a house to sleep like they normally did, they spent the night in the van. After too many close calls, the solemn teenagers were wiped out. Haru kept a watchful on the still unconscious redhead as everyone else slept on the backseat. However, he ended off dozing off.

"Haru! Wake up!" Nagisa cried out as he shook the sleeping teenager from his shoulder.

He rubbed his eyes. "W-What's the matter Nagisa?"

"I-I-It's R-Rin! H-H-H-He's..."

"Rin's what?! What's wrong with R-!"

"Rin's gone!"

"What?!" The wide eyed man shouted. "Where did he go?!"

Rei pulled the blond back and explained as Nagisa was unable to fumble words out of his mouth. "We don't know. But Rin must have snuck out while we slept to look for his sister."

Haru gasped. "Don't tell me he's-"

The guys followed a bloody trail and path of dead zombies, which led them back to the school. Zombies lay battered and cut as they drove toward the entrance. Their arms flailed in the air and legs twitched, desperately trying to get up. Rei parked the van on the sidewalk and passed the guns to the others. The guys stormed out of the van with their weapons in hand and mindsets set on finding Rin alive and well.

It was difficult to tell who was more worried about Rin. None of them wanted Rin to be found in the worst condition imaginable.

Makoto flung the glass door open and held it for the others to speed into the building. Nagisa pointed his gun at the heads of three zombies and shot them down. Haru then led the group around the corner and up the stairs.

For some reason, something inside him knew exactly where to find their missing friend. Maybe he had been around Rin for so long that he had an internal Rin GPS?

As they reached the steps, Haru shot a zombie between the eyes with his revolver. Its body collapsed as they raced to the end of the hallway. They reached the a door at the end of the hall with more dead zombies on the floor around it.

_Room 210_

The door was slightly open and the silver door knob was smeared with blood. All of them were a bit hesitant to open the door, but Haru slowly flattened his hand on the door and cautiously pushed it open.

In the middle of the room stood the redhead. A large, blood encrusted hammer in his hand. Two zombies laid beside his feet. Their skulls smashed in and their faces so mangled that is almost resembled a bitten piece of rotten food. His dark blue jeans splattered in blood as well as his hands and arms. He turned his body around slowly with a neutral expression, but his face splashed with deep red blood. The red liquid dripped from the tips of his bangs.

The sight worried the guys for Rin's mental stability. For him to have gone out at night alone and take down all those zombies with just a hammer was incredibly risky and life threatening.

"Rin?!" Makoto exclaimed. "We were worried sick about you!" While he exclaimed, Rin walked toward them.

They took a small step back as, thinking that Rin was still in a belligerent mood. Instead, Rin handed Haru a bloodied folded note in his hand. "Here. Read this," he said as he waved the paper near his face.

Haru grabbed the note and read it out loud as the others peered behind him. In shaken black sharpie, it read,

**_Rin. _**

**_Got over-run. Made it out safe. Meet at Army Base. Sanctuary._**

**_Gou and Others._**

It felt as though a huge weight of grief had been lifted. They were elated to find out that Gou and the others had made it out of the zombie filled academy safely.

"This is fantastic!" Makoto cheered. "When we get to the Base, we'll be able to see her and the others! This is great news Rin!"

Rin trembling lips formed into a smile. "Gou... She's safe..." He lunged forward slightly as Makoto pat his back. Rin curled his upper body toward his stomach and started to cry. "Thank god... My sister is safe..." He then felt the warm embrace of his friends wrap around his body. However, once they stood back up, Haru raised his right hand and slapped Rin hard across his bloodied cheek.

"Haru?!" Nagisa and Rei exclaimed with their jaws dropped.

"Haru?! What was that for?!" Makoto asked as he put his hands on Haru's shoulders.

Rin was also shocked by Haru's gesture. Yet, he understood why. He was able to translate the reason why Haru had slapped him. He said as he rubbed his pink cheek, "Got it Haru. I won't do it again." He gave the guys a reassuring smile and added, "Don't worry. Haru just gave me a piece of his mind."

"Jeez guys." Makoto sighed. "Now that we found you, we should get going to the Army Base. Gou must be worried sick."

As they left the room, Rin smelled something foul. He looked down at his shirt and gagged. "Can I shower first? I won't take long."

Something clicked inside the blue eyes mans head. **Shower = Water**. Haru hasn't been around any water that he could submerge himself in for an agonizingly long time. He wasn't about to let this opportunity to slip through his fingers. "I think we should all take shower's. Who knows? It'll probably be a little while before we'll be able to indulge in the simple luxuries again."

* * *

Yes another Chapter!

This one is pretty short because I wanted to get straight to the point. And now that that's done, I can now add more intense stuff! XD


	6. Stolen

_Author's note: I know little to almost nothing about cars. If I get some things messed up, sorry_.

"My stomach is doin' the rumbling," Nagisa groaned as he clenched his grumbling stomach. His forehead rested on the back of the driver's headrest.

"We know you're hungry, Nagisa. Everyone is, but complaining won't do anyone good," Makoto explained. He pat his own lap and said, "Why don't you sleep it off?"

"But I'm not sleepy! I took a nap like 3 times already! Plus it won't do any good since I'll wake up even more hungry!"

Rei sighed and commented, "It's such a shame that all our supplies were lost to the dead. We were lucky enough to retrieve some of our weapons, but it cost us all of our rations."

The guys have driven non stop for over 10 hours, with only a short pit-stop to fill up for gas. Everyone in the car sighed from disappointment, all except Haru, who stared out at the scenery from the passenger window. Orange was the main color pallet of the area. Trees with deep red-orange colored leaves lined up the forest. Light grey clouds covered the sky and a gust of wind sent oodles of leaves flying onto the road. Makoto looked to his side and formed a soft smile as he stared at Haru's relaxed state.

"We're on a tight schedule guys. We have to find Gou and the others before anything bad happens to them," Rin explained as he drove their newly found, silver truck. The redhead couldn't stop worrying about the safety of his sister. he had to remember that she was in goods hands. But then he would realize that a certain tanned redhead was with her and he would end up worried all over again... He managed to drive a couple more feet before the truck began to experience some problems. Steam came out from the hood of the car. "Don't tell me..." He looked at the gas dial. The red arrow was directly on** E**. "Fuck! We're out of gas!"

The truck made a complete stop in the middle of the rural highway. Rin and Rei exited the car and popped open the hood. A cloud of steam rolled in onto their faces, which fogged Rei's red rimmed glasses. Once the smog cleared, he pulled out a cloth from his pocket and cleaned his spectacles as Rin examined the car. The redhead rummaged inside the engine and found the complication. The radiator over heated. The valve wasn't screwed on properly, so the water seeped out, thus making the radiator unable to cool itself, even with in the cold weather.

"Goddamn it," he muttered.

"This is a problem. We'll have to find some water soon before it get's dark."

The frustrated redhead kicked the front tire and shouted, "That's fucking great! We're stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere with a crappy-ass truck!"

"Rin, please calm down." Rei's words didn't process in Rin's head. Instead, he stomped toward a tree and repeatedly his his forehead against it. Rei turned back to the truck and called out, "Hey guys! Can you come out please?!"

Before he knew it, Makoto, Nagisa and Haru rushed to his side. "What's the problem?" Makoto asked.

"I don't want to come off as rude, but does Rin get cranky when he's hun-."

"Yes," they all repeated.

"Oh. Well, while he's blowing off steam, we should think of a plan to get out of this pickle. Luckily for us, I already have one!" He explained that if Nagisa steered the truck while he, Haru, Makoto and Rin pushed the truck, they would be able to a nearby gas station, since they haven't seen one for the past couple miles. But it would be risky, since it was all a hunch. "Does this sound good to you all?"

They nodded in agreement.

Before they returned to the truck, Makoto cupped his ears outward and listened for any suspicious groans. All he heard was the crisp air rustling through the dark orange tree leaves. "Haru, do you hear anything?" He asked.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Just the trees." The blue eyed man then walked toward the frustrated redhead. He rested his hand on Rin's shoulder and spoke some inaudible words to him. Rin seemed to have calmed down and stopped slamming his head on the bark. Haru wiped his dirty, pale forehead and walked back to the truck with his friend.

The four of them pushed the truck with all their might as Nagisa steered, making sure that the truck didn't swerve off onto a ditch.

About a half a mile later, they made it to a gas station off the interstate without a run in with the walking dead. Nagisa steered the man powered truck an additional couple of feet until they approached the gas pump. The men slid down the van and fell onto the floor. Their faces covered in sweat and their calves ached as well as their arms.

Nagisa rolled down the window and watched the inside of the store through it's windows for any movement. It was a little hard for him to see clearly since the windows were smudged with dirt and other dried substances. When the coast was clear, he eagerly hopped out the car from the window and dashed to the store without being detected by the other's.

Rei dug through his left pocket and pulled out his wallet. He looked inside it, looked up at the gas prices and pulled out his money. "Huh... Seems that I don't have enough money for gas," he acknowledged. He then turned to Makoto and asked him for some money, to which he didn't have any on him.

"What the hell Rei? Why are you asking for money?"

"Well, Rin, I only have 152 ¥ with me, so I don't have enough for gas. Do you have some money on you?"

The redhead slapped the palm of his hand against his forehead. "Ohmigod," Rin muttered under his breath as he dragged his hand down his face. "One. No, I don't have any cash on me. And two. There's a cash register at the store over there. There's no more police to stop you from taking money from there anyway."

"Your right! How silly of me," he said as he placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself up onto his feet. He grabbed his backpack from the trunk and took a few steps before he felt a tug on his jeans. Rei looked down over his shoulder and met a pair of droopy, green eyes.

"Hey, Rei. Can you find some snacks for us please? And some water too."

"Sure thing, Makoto." He then glanced over towards Haru, who was catching his breath. "Do you want anything, Haru?"

Haru looked up at him with a serious expression and said, "Bring as much water as you can."

Rei nodded and proceeded to walk to the store. When the doors automatically slid open, the store was surprisingly clean inside. The items were still on their shelves, the floor looks as though it had been swept and there wasn't any blood on the floor this time. The exceptions were the dirty windows and dusty counters. He strolled down the candy aisle and . He peered inside the once frosty window and scanned each row for bottled water. It wouldn't have felt eerie to him if he didn't feel as though someone were watching him. He thought he had seen something on the corner of his eye, but he brushed it off. His eyes met the water at the very bottom of the row. He opened the door and bent down to get them, until he felt a sharp pinch on his sides.

"Hey Rei!"

Rei let out a short, feminine scream when he heard Nagisa's voice. He almost lost his balance, but he caught himself from doing so when he rested his forearm on the door. Once he found out who the identity of his assailant was, Rei scolded him, but to no avail. The blond simply laughed.

"Ohmigod Rei! You scream like a girl!" Nagisa laughed as he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.

His pale face flushed red. "Don't laugh! You could have given me a heart attack!"

"Sorry. I couldn't help myself. You were in a vulnerable state, so I had to pounce. If anything it was your fault for keeping your guard down."

Rei took offence to that statement. He pressed his hands to his chest and exclaimed, "My fault?! That's not how it works! If anything, it the exact opposite of my fa-!"

"That's the thing, Rei. "**It**" doesn't exist anymore. There's no more rules. I, we, can do whatever I want!" Before Rei could make another comment, Nagisa merrily skipped over a few aisles and stopped on the snack section. He opened a bag of potato chips and scarfed them down. With his mouth full, he commented, "Loothie! I donth even hafth to pay for theth!" (Lookie! I don't even have to pay for these!)

The magenta eyed boy had a point. There were no rules anymore. No police to enforce the law. No store owner to kick them out of the store. No one except for them. Rei admired Nagisa's innocent, care-free demeanor. It seemed like nothing could penetrate his happy go lucky attitude, not even the flesh eating undead.

Rei placed the water bottles in his backpack, along with some canned goods and expired chips. He hurried toward the cash register and opened it with the press of a few buttons. He reached down for the soft colored paper, but something inside him restrained his hand from grabbing the money. His hand just froze a few inches above the money.

The blond peered down at the register beside the frozen man as he munched on his chips. "What's the matter, Rei?"

Rei's body jolted when Nagisa asked the question. "W-Well... Um...," he stuttered. He didn't want to tell Nagisa the reason he was frozen was because he was too much of a goody-too-shoes. He felt, based on his observations, that the blond would only make fun of him. However, that didn't stop him from replying. "The good samaritan that is still is sending electrical impulses to my brain that is restraining my hand from taking the money."

His prediction was right. The blond gave him a disappointed look and muttered, "Wow. What a loser." He then grabbed the money and shoved the bills in his pocket.

When Rei glanced to see what the other's were doing, he was shocked at what he saw. His friends were gone. Vanished.

He focused out more and found them hiding underneath the truck. Makoto laid in-between Rin and Haru, with their arms wrapped around him, and his hands were over his trembling head. Haru pointed his pistol toward one of the back tires while Rin vigorously waved his hand up and down at them, a sigh that Rei took in as code for him and Nagisa to hide.

"Get down," Rei whispered loudly as he pushed Nagisa's head below the rim of the counter. He kept his hand on his blond hair and peered slightly over the counter

An unusual coal black Hummer pulled in the station beside one of the gas pumps. Barbed wire with strips of clothing were wrapped on the top of the rims of the car and bloodied baseball bats hung on nails on the car doors. The driver and passenger doors opened and out came two figures. Both of their identities remained a mystery as their faces were hidden by helmets and bodies were covered by S.W.A.T armor. Each of them carried semi-automatic riffles and handguns on their hips.

A vast amount of questions filled inside of Rei's head. From _Who are they?_ to _Are they a threat?_ It was hard for him to concentrate when Nagisa chewed loudly beside him. "Can you stop eating?!" He growled.

Nagisa apologized and threw the half empty bag across the floor.

The two unidentified people seemed amused at the sight of the truck, which they approached with little caution. They peered inside through the window and examined the trunk. Haru pulled the trembling Makoto closer to him and steadied the gun aimed right for one of the stranger's ankles. Rin gave Rei a _**Do something**_ look. Rei hastily pulled out a can of tuna from his backpack and threw it at the window, which bounced loudly onto the floor. The gunmen turned their bodies sharply around and pointed their rifles at the door.

Their hearts pounded hard against their chest as the strangers entered the store. They flattened their backs against the counter and pulled their legs close to their chest. Nagisa gave a confused look to his friend as he thought of a plan to escape. Rei pointed Nagisa to crawl over to the back door down the back aisle, where they would hide out until they left. Nagisa nodded in agreement and crawled toward the back in-between the cold drinks and rows of snacks. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks before he could get past the first aisle. Rei scooted down at the edge of the counter, looked to his side and saw one of the gunmen creeping toward Nagisa's direction. Without hesitation, Rei shot his body up above the counter with his arms high above his head. Sweat rolled down the side of his cheeks when they pointed their rifles at his head.

The man near the door shouted in a deep, low voice, "Who the hell are you?!"

"I-I'm j-j-just a lone t-traveler!" He shouted. Rei had said he was alone because he didn't want to endanger his friends. "I stopped h-here to fill up on g-gas."

"Sorry, bud. But this is our station. You're gunna have to high-tail it outta here."

"C-Certainly. I'm sorry f-for intruding. I'll leave right n-."

_*Crash*_

They pointed their guns right at the wide-eyes boy. Nagisa had accidentally knocked down a rack of chips with his leg when he turned the corner. One of the men grabbed Nagisa by his hair and dragged him across the floor onto an ice cream cooler.

"Where do you think your going?!" He exclaimed as he stomped on the blond with his right foot. Nagisa covered his head with his arms as a desperate attempt to avoid injury.

"Don't hurt him!" Rei shouted.

"Who is this?! Is he with you?!"

Rei didn't answer.

"Do you think I'm stupid?!"

He gulped and continued, "What?! N-No sir! Not at al-!"

"Bullshit!" He shouted as he aimed the rifle to his head. Rei shut his eyes as it seemed that the gunman was going to open fire on him. But nothing happened. He opened one eye and saw the two men talking.

"Calm down, Kai," the other man said. He stopped kicking Nagisa and continued, "Remember what the boss said. Save your bullets. We got bigger problems that this scrawny punk."

As the men bickered, Rei slammed his hand on the counter and jumped over it. Once he landed on the other side, he hurled his body onto Nagisa's attacker and grabbed his mask. He tried to pull of the attackers helmet, but he grabbed his wrists and turned Rei over onto his back. The man then pummeled Rei's face repeatedly, knocking his glasses off his head.

"Nagisa! Run!" He shouted in-between his beatings.

Instead of following his friends request, Nagisa tackled the attacker to the ground. The other man kicked the blond off his companion and hir him with the butt of his rifle. Blood flowed down from a gash right above his left eye.

Blood poured out from Rei's nose and he received deep cuts on his lips. Rei laid on the cold floor and wondered why the others haven't intervened yet. Then, three more armored people exit the Hummer with their riffles in hand. There might have been even more men outside.

Under the truck, Rin and Haru's faces were red with rage and their eyes bent on killing. But their actions would amount to almost nothing. The strangers had more weaponry and man power than they could ever imagine. An encounter with them would mean certain death.

Rei watched in agony as Nagisa struggled loose from the assailants grip. They grabbed his arms and legs. He put up a good struggle, however, they had the upper hand. They then carried him out of the store. Rei quickly rolled onto his stomach and crawled out of the store. A wave of pain rolled through his body, but it didn't stop him. He witnessed one of the assailants bring down the butt of his rifle into Nagisa's stomach. They threw his limp body into the trunk.

Tears filled his eyes. Rei had never felt so useless in his life. He observed the in his friends faces. The hopelessness and the defeat in their expressions. After the armored men slammed the hood, they went back inside their Hummer and sped off into the town.


End file.
